Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Frances Curran



The first witness called by the Crown today was Frances Curran, a founding member of the Scottish Socialist Party and a member of the Scottish Parliament from 2003 until 2007. After establishing this Mr Alex Prentice QC for the prosecution asked Ms Curran when she had first heard about the News of the World's allegations about an MSP attending a "sex club" in Manchester. The witness told the court that she had been in the dining hall of the Scottish parliament on the 31st October and that "Rosie [Rosie Kane MSP] had been joking about it and taking bets." 


Ms Curran told the court that she had then received a telephone call from Alan McCombes who had informed her that the unnamed MSP in the story had been Tommy Sheridan. This was followed by a meeting at Mr McCombes flat later in the week attended by a number of SSP executive members and MSP's which Ms Curran described as an informal meeting at which she expected Mr Sheridan to attend. As he did not a decision was taken that a formal executive meeting was required and this was arranged for the 9th November.



Mr Prentice then asked the witness about that meeting. Ms Curran stated that Alan McCombes had spoken first and told the meeting that the unnamed MSP was Mr Sheridan, he then spoke next and admitted the allegations saying he had visited the Cupids club in Manchester on two occasions but there was no proof and he intended to fight the allegations in court. The witness said she could not believe Mr Sheridan could be "so stupid as to visit a sex club with a newspaper columnist (Anvar Khan)" and that he would be "crazy" to take on a court case.


Ms Curran then told the court that she and Colin Fox MSP had met Mr Sheridan the next day in Edinburgh and asked him if he was still planning on taking court action about the NotW story. When he replied that he did she said "then we want your resignation" She described Mr Sheridan as responding "for f*cks sake Frances I expected more loyalty from you" and asked how they knew it was him? Ms Curran stated that she said "because you told us last night" and when Mr Sheridan said there was not a "scintilla of proof" she had pointed out that "this was the 21st century with "CCTV and mobile phones" and evidence was bound to come out. Finally Ms Curran testified that she had told the defendant she would not lie for him and "don't drag me into court" to which she added "and here I am."


Ms Curran was then shown the "Barbara Scott" minute of the 9 November meeting which she stated was a accurate account of that meeting. She was then shown the alternative minute (the "Mystery Minute" as Maggie Scott QC called it) which she said she had only seen once before, when the police presented it to her during a interview. Mr Prentice then  asked Ms Curran about the affidavit given to the Sunday Herald newspaper and if she had been aware before the trial that it was from Alan McCombes. She told the court that Mr McCombes had informed her of this "just before the trial" and until then she had believed Duncan Rowan to be the affidavit's source and that she was "surprised" it was Mr McCombes. Finally the witness was asked if she had received any money from the News of the World, which she denied and that she was still "raging" to be dragged into court. With that the Crown finished their initial examination and the  court adjourned for a short break.


After the morning break the court resumed with the defence's cross examination of Frances Curran. Mr Sheridan opened by asking Ms Curran if she had discussed her evidence with anyone else, the witness responded by saying "call me Frances we've known each other for years Tommy." at this point the judge, lord Bracadale intervened stating he wished the court to use formal terms. Responding to the question Ms Curran replied she had not discussed her evidence to which Mr Sheridan pointed to her previous testimony that she had spoken to Alan McCombes to which she responded that it was a brief conversation. Mr Sheridan put it to the witness that this was potentially a serious offence to which she reponded "you're the lawyer Tommy." At this point the judge again intervened and asked Ms Curran to answer questions and not make additional comments.


There was then a discussion about the meeting held in Alan McCombes flat which Ms Curran had stated that she expected Mr Sheridan to attend. He asked how the witness knew he had been invited to the meeting to which she responded that she was told he had been but admitted she had no first hand knowledge of an invitation. Mr Sheridan then asked about Rosie Kane "taking bets" in the parliament and asked the witness of they had been having a "good laugh" and if they thought the situation was "funny." Ms Curran said  that they had, but only because they had not known who the MSP was.


After some questions about Mr Sheridan's and Ms Curran's "shared political background in the Militant" and if the Militant was a "semi-clandestine" organisation, Mr Sheridan asked about Ms Curran's membership of the "United Left" group within the SSP. At that point Ms Curran said she could not answer questions on this subject until she had legal advice as it was part of a "live court case" a defamation action against the Daily Record. With that the judge asked the jury to leave while legal arguments on this were heard. 


(for those interested an article on Ms Curran's action and a link to the judgement can be found Here )


On the jury's return the judge instructed the witness to continue to answer questions unless he directed her not to. Ms Curran said that she had only ever been to one United Left meeting and although she was "proud" of signing it's founding statement that was not the same as joining the organisation. Mr Sheridan read out extracts from an article from Red Pepper magazine written by Roz Patterson, Ms Curran said she could not comment on an article she had never seen and that the defence should ask Ms Patterson about it. Mr Sheridan then had the witness read her testimony to a discovery hearing in Edinburgh before the 2006 trial and pointed out that she had stated then she had returned the minutes of the "9/11" meeting to Mr McCombes when she had testified today she had returned them to Mr Green after reading them. The witness put this down to confusion between where the minutes where then and where they were in 2006.


Mr Sheridan then accused the witness of "lying for a political purpose" which she called a "joke" She then spoke directly to the jury saying "poor jury by the way having to listen to this" and again the judge intervened asking her to refrain from making comments to the jury. Mr Sheridan again accused her of not telling the truth to which she responded "Is that your whole defence, Liar, liar pants on fire?" but admitted to have gotten "confused" at certain points in her evidence. As Mr Sheridan ended his cross-examination and began to return to the dock Ms Curran continued to speak saying to Mr Sheridan "your biggest crime is not the one you are in court for, your biggest crime was that you sold out the party and sold out the people you voted for, you are a disgrace."


The Advocate Depute declined to re-examine the witness and it being 1pm the court rose for lunch.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's Frances not "Francis".

Campbell McGregor said...

It's FRANCES Curran, she is a woman.

James Doleman said...

Oops, sorry all, fixed now.

James Doleman said...

Oh and in another error I deleted "Big Aggies comment" so It's below

good on you for minding your language, James. I wish I could say the same about Bernard Ponsonby... handsome man that he is...

Anonymous said...

Why put his wife through all of this,would have been better off pleading guilty and doing a short jail term even if he is innocent.

Anonymous said...

Sheridan has a habit of asking his final question then immediately saying 'no further questions' and returning to the dock while the witnesses are in the middle of their first sentence of response to his question. He's done it several times and it's really really annoying to watch, not to mention incredibly rude and unprofessional.

Green Alan said...
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justaglasgowguy said...

Anon@7.08 Yes, better an innocent man should go to jail than cause a fuss. Can you think of anything else he should plead guilty to so to make things nice, not just for his wife, but for everyone? Maybe he could cope a plea for the present economic crisis? Then the Tories wouldn't have to scapegoat the sick and the poor.

Anonymous said...

"There was suggestions today of witnesses colluding and discussing the case."

Strange how many of them are coming out with the same phrases, sayings and expressions. Attacking Sheridan and not answering the questions. The old saying..."Attack is the best form of defence" comes to mind.

Stevo said...

Is it surprising witnesses would discuss the case in the four years it's taken to come to trial given that it affects their reputations and political goals?

me myself alone said...

Am I the only one that thinks it was Sheridan and the sycophants who surrounded him who sold out. This trial is exposing him as an individual concerned more about himself than family friends or party. As for the SSP witnesses at the original trial, they were interviewed by Lothian and Borders Police, no grounds for prosecution. The SSP witnesses are still in the SSP, the friends of Tommy are joining labour, ahh entryism.

Courtroom Watcher said...
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Bunc said...
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Anonymous said...
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James Doleman said...

Hello Courtroom watcher and others, sorry had to delete your posts, they were interesting but the subject matter could get me into a bit of trouble.

Anonymous said...

yeah, good point Bunc, if the witnesses came over all placid and showed no emotion how would that be interpreted. you have to think how a normal person would react in the same position. if you felt genuinely grieved I think that you would be looking forward to your day in court to say what you thought of so and so.

Courtroom Watcher said...

No worries, James.

Whatsy said...

Re: Anonymous "Sheridan has a habit of asking his final question then immediately saying 'no further questions' and returning to the dock while the witnesses are in the middle of their first sentence of response to his question. He's done it several times"

I've noticed this too, and I think it's backfiring on him as it invites the witness to respond with the usual "I'm telling the truth, you're the liar Tommy" as he picks up his notes and heads back to the dock.

I think he's trying to end each cross-exam on a bit of a rhetorical flourish, which would work well at the end of a speech, but particularly for witnesses experienced at public speaking, it's just an open invitation to let rip, and ends up with "you're a liar, Tommy" hanging in the air and mind as the last thing everyone hears regarding that witness's testimony.

Anonymous said...

just a question to all you court room observers on the blog.How many of you kept awake during Currans 'turn'.I ask cos i saw her speak once at a ssp meeting and like others was fighting to stay awake.

Jessica Fletcher P.I. said...

"just a question to all you court room observers on the blog.How many of you kept awake during Currans 'turn'.I ask cos i saw her speak once at a ssp meeting and like others was fighting to stay awake."

Brilliant anon.
That was really witty, cleaver, and insightful.

I'm so glad I took the time to come back in this post and check out what the new comment was.

Please let that inquisitive part of your nature flourish. I'd like to see many more questions like that on the blog over the weeks to come.

Again, Thank You.

Anonymous said...

Regardless of what is going on now, I always thought all of our six MSPs done REALLY well in the SP. I have always thought that. I thought CL and CF were always very effective.

Sad this had to happen.

Anonymous said...

effective....no clueless yes .These Political pygmies Curran,Fox,Kane ,Leckie got elected due to having TS's name on the ballot paper.What ever the out come to this fiasco history will not look kindly on them.

Shug said...

This is nonsense. Apart from anything else Tommy's name was not on the ballot paper during 2003.

Anonymous said...

"I always thought all of our six MSPs done REALLY well in the SP."

I should have said in the above...While they were in the SP chamber. I don`t think Rosie Kane's taking bets outside the chamber was very good behaviour. She let us all down on that.

Anonymous said...

This is nonsense. Apart from anything else Tommy's name was not on the ballot paper during 2003

so wrong .... get your facts right... EVERY SSP MSP was elected from a ballot paper that referred to the party as "Scottish Socialist Party (Convenor Tommy Sheridan)" TS romped home with the 'cabal' just scrapping in.The like of FC who is dull as dishwater would have not got a sniff at the TS left to her own devices.

Shug said...

No.

Jessica Fletcher P.I. said...

If it was all down to Tommy then why didn't he romp home to election victory with Solidarity?

2007
SSP got 1 Councillor
Sol got 1 Councillor

2010
SSP has 1 councillor
Lab has 1 new Councillor

http://www.heraldscotland.com/solidarity-s-only-representative-defects-to-labour-1.844681

Do you think perhaps it was a case of "The SSP made Tommy, and Tommy made the SSP"? Then Tommy started to believe that he made the Heaven and the Earth, so he took a massive dump on the SSP.

Name one thing of significance he's done since leaving the SSP and the party activists that made him? Apart from Big Brother.

Anonymous said...

Too right, Anon Colin Fox couldn't win a raffle never mind an election.

Magnum P.I. said...

Jessica Fletcher P.I., asking whether Tommy make the SSP or did the SSP make Tommy Sheridan is nonsensical - that's like a chicken and egg situation.

"Name one thing of significance he's done since leaving the SSP and the party activists that made him? Apart from Big Brother." - Glasgow High Court: Get me Out here!

Magnum P.I.

Jessica Fletcher P.I. said...

"Glasgow High Court: Get me Out here!"

Lol

Tommy was, is sorry, a darling of the media. I realise it's an important part of politics these days, but plenty of people put in just as much, and more, effort in building the left in Scotland.

He got all the mainstream credit for it. The SSP was willing to help this along for it's own end. Now it's a painful lesson for the future.

Magnum P.I. said...

lol Jessica

did you watch the follow-up?:

Glasgow High Court: I'm Innocent - Get me out of Here!

But seriously, Jessica hasn't that always been the way of political parties: a colony of little foot-soldiers scurrying around pushing leaflets through letter boxes and a great leader taking all the credit for their efforts. You'll be aware that the same thing happens in the world of el cheapo, schedule-filling TV detective dramas - lots of behind the scenes talent doing all the real work and crappy actor/esses taking all the credit.

Magnum P.I.